A matter of life and death - 1946 film music

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Posted 15 December 2011 - 03:33 AM

Has anyone got the notes of that short but haunting piano refrain in the 1946 film a matter of life and death.? (the one where David Niven crashes in a plane but fails to be seen by his guide to the afterlife because of a thick english channel fog) I know it is short & should be easy to guess at, and it might well be on the piano, but not on my bass ?

Go here and click #6 for a short snatch
.
NB
(Im sure this will end up as just another in a long list of unanswered pleas from me, in this section of the forum)

Bass guitars with more than 4 stringsQuestioner: How come you never play a 5 or 6 stringer Billy?Billy Sheehan: "I dont need one, I have my hipshot for lower notes, and I can go to harmonics for higher notes"Questioner: "do you own any"?Billy Sheehan: " yes I have two or three, though rarely use them outside an ocassional studio set piece" "I dont like to use them unless I really have to, as when a guy takes a 5 or 6 string bass into the studio, you see the engineers and producers, sighing and shaking their heads" :) (Smiles)Billy Sheehan: " I have nothing whatseover against 5 or 6 string basses. I just belive that guys dont give themselves a proper chance on the 4 stringer first."Questioner: How long is 'a proper chance'? Billy Sheehan: " At least 20 years" (not smiling here, being serious)

Cant help with the music but A matter of life and death is my all time favourite film ever!!

Call me an old softy

It was made as a propaganda tool to get American sympathy before they jouined the war but still its an amazing feat of cinematography and the love story is sublime. Oh and yep the music is very haunting particularly the 'going up the stairway to heaven' piano bit. Which I think your refering to.
And finally..... I do have a bit of a soft spot for Kathleen Byron:http://en.wikipedia..../Kathleen_Byron

Cant help with the music but A matter of life and death is my all time favourite film ever!!

Call me an old softy

It was made as a propaganda tool to get American sympathy before they jouined the war but still its an amazing feat of cinematography and the love story is sublime. Oh and yep the music is very haunting particularly the 'going up the stairway to heaven' piano bit. Which I think your refering to.
And finally..... I do have a bit of a soft spot for Kathleen Byron:http://en.wikipedia..../Kathleen_Byron

Just sayin

A

One of my favourites too. But wasn't it released in 1946, 4 years after the yanks had joined in and a year after the war had ended?

One of my favourites too. But wasn't it released in 1946, 4 years after the yanks had joined in and a year after the war had ended?

Your right!! I must have misread it somewere or was about another film!! Hmmm Ill have a search for where I saw it

A

EDIT:

Good old Wiki:

Anglo-American relations
The film was originally suggested by a British government department to improve relations between the Americans in the UK and the British public [10] following Powell and Pressburger's contributions to this sphere in A Canterbury Taletwo years earlier, though neither film received any government funding nor input on plot or production. There was a degree of hostility against the American servicemen stationed in the UK for the invasion of Europe. They were viewed in some quarters as latecomers to the war and as "overpaid, oversexed and over here" by a public that had suffered three years of bombing and rationing, with many of their own men fighting abroad. The premise of the film is a simple inversion: The English pilot gets the pretty American woman rather than the other way round, and the only national bigotry is voiced by the first American casualty of the Revolutionary War against the British. Raymond Massey, portraying an American, was a Canadian national at the time the film was made, but became a naturalised American citizen afterward.

Yep, seen that one a few times. Think my all time favourite has to be "Its a Wonderful Life". Has a lot of personal meaning to me, and alongside David Niven, Jimmy Stewart was one of my favourite actors.

Yep, seen that one a few times. Think my all time favourite has to be "Its a Wonderful Life". Has a lot of personal meaning to me, and alongside David Niven, Jimmy Stewart was one of my favourite actors.

Would you believe Ive never seen it!! Supposed to be quit dark and gritty isnt it? Its usually the case with classics where they drop into parady and derided but when you actually watch them they is far more to them than the cleche they are made out to be.

Bass guitars with more than 4 stringsQuestioner: How come you never play a 5 or 6 stringer Billy?Billy Sheehan: "I dont need one, I have my hipshot for lower notes, and I can go to harmonics for higher notes"Questioner: "do you own any"?Billy Sheehan: " yes I have two or three, though rarely use them outside an ocassional studio set piece" "I dont like to use them unless I really have to, as when a guy takes a 5 or 6 string bass into the studio, you see the engineers and producers, sighing and shaking their heads" :) (Smiles)Billy Sheehan: " I have nothing whatseover against 5 or 6 string basses. I just belive that guys dont give themselves a proper chance on the 4 stringer first."Questioner: How long is 'a proper chance'? Billy Sheehan: " At least 20 years" (not smiling here, being serious)

I love Powell and Pressburger films - I've got the collection on DVD. Ill Met by Moonlight, A Matter of Life and Death and A Canterbury Tale are amazing films, only restricted by the technology of the time.

I love the part in A Canterbury Tale (my favourite) where the organist at Canterbury Cathedral tells Dennis Price, 'Don't swing it!' as he plays for the troop's leaving service. If you haven't seen these films and can cope with black and white, check them out.

The Red Shoes was always a fave P&P as was this film. The piano always made me feel on edge and tense, which I suppose it was meant to.
I expect with so many grieving families at the time, it had a far deeper emotional impact than now,with everyone desperately hoping he got to live, unlike their Husband brother son etc
Nice to see classic film scores getting a look in.